When I was a boy of 6 and 7, I learned about my local library. And it was an opening to the world for me. I would check out four or five books at a time and be back in a couple of days. As I got older I read even more, late into the night, even reading under the covers with a flashlight so my folks would not see me.
I have no regrets.
I am now 76 and still read one to two books a week. I have always felt a person could learn about the world if he took the time to read. I am unhappy now to see the youth of today turn to TV and do very little, and it makes me sad.
So I am donating to the library to help them out. But if I can donate, why can’t others? So I ask Maderans to reach in their pockets and give to the library. It is money well spent to educate the young and entertain the old. And every dollar counts. If you can only give $1, do it. If you can give more, do it. You will never regret it.
Then, send your children or grandchildren to the library. Better yet, take them, and introduce them to the world.
Well, I’m certainly glad I’m not a Wall Street banker of the middle-tier variety. It appears the government’s pay czar is going to cap salaries of those folks at $500,000 a year, if it happens that their banks got big federal bailouts.
That is a mere $41,667 per month, $9,615 per week. How will they live on so little?
The heads of these banks are furious about this, of course. They don’t believe they can get any good mid-level bankers at those wages. I guess they think they will be stuck with bankers who can barely read and write, who show up late and go home early, and who spend a lot of time on Twitter instead of doing what Wall Street bankers are supposed to do.
Actually, it is never quite clear what mid-tier Wall Street bankers do.
We know that over the recent years, they have run the country into the ground financially. They have been hedging derivatives like mad, for example. Or maybe they have been deriving hedges. It is hard to keep things like that straight. Or, at least it seemed to be for those bankers.
Maybe they were less-than-$500,000-a-year bankers, and that was the whole problem all along. If the banks had been paying their mid-level bankers more they would have been able to hire people who actually knew what they were doing.
Another reason I’m glad I’m not a mid-tier Wall Street banker is that if I brought home $9,615 a week, Mrs. Doud would call the cops.
“My husband just held up a bank,” she would say. “I don’t see his mask or his gun, but I know that’s the only way he could get his hands on that much money.”
After I got her calmed down, she would want to know what I was going to do with all that dough.
“Don’t waste it on any more of those darned hedges,” she would say. “We can’t prune the ones we’ve got now.”
All comments are edited for length and content. Because of content or space limitations, some comments may not be published. More than one comment from the same person during the same week will normally not be published. Please limit calls to two minutes or less.
+ + +
A woman said, “On Sept. 17, I was involved in a horrible, life-changing car crash at Westberry (Boulevard) and Sunset (Avenue) while taking my granddaughter to school.
“I want to take this time to thank officer Matt Sauceda, Pistoresi Ambulance and the fire department, and the angel who came and opened the back door for my granddaughter who was crying hysterically. Though I couldn’t move, she shared my granddaughter’s condition with me. With great gratitude from the bottom of my heart I pray blessings on you daily. Thank you.”
“Is any one appalled at the way Mrs. Obama dressed for the Indian Prime Minister that was in the paper recently,” said a lady. “They are usually Muslim or Hindu and here she was with a strapless gown looking like she was at an Oscar showing or Hollywood party. I was appalled at the way she was dressed because Hindus and Muslims don’t show their shoulders or arms. Maybe I’m old fashioned. Am I the only one that thinks this way?”
“It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant some people are,” said a woman. “Here’s this guy writing (online Red Line comments) about having cock fights. Is he from a third world country? Where is this joker from? I suggest to anyone who wants to have cock fights to take your cock and bull and go back with it.”
A man also was “absolutely astounded and appalled that any human being would want to watch any two animals of any kind, be it, birds, dogs or worms fighting each other to the death. It is that kind of mental attitude that is coming across our borders from around the world that is breaking down the sanity that’s been in this country. It is absolutely sickening.”
A woman “also has fond memories of the (holiday) decorations hung on the poles downtown and the Christmas music out of speakers. I would like to see that again now that I have my kids. It would be great.”
She also mentioned she would like to see the library have “their story time in the evening so I could bring my children.”
A man called about the “recent treasure hunters road show. It is just a big gimmick to get people in there to sell their gold. A lot of people brought in some nice antiques, but the people working were so young they would say, ‘oh, what’s that,’ and the person would have to tell them. They had no idea. People waited hours only to be disappointed, turn around and walk out.”
A man “called regarding the antique road show. I don’t believe it’s an antique road show. I think it was a complete rip-off.” (Note: The Treasure Hunter’s Road Show recently in Madera has no affiliation with the Antique Road Show on PBS.)
A “parent of a special needs child” recently “found out that Madera Unified is trying to take over the Madera County bus driver transportation. As a parent of a special needs child the (county) bus drivers are absolutely wonderful. They are trained to deal with special needs children and I think it’s a shame that Madera Unified is trying to save a little bit of money and eliminate a lot of county jobs and these trained bus drivers.”
A lady who said she was “looking at the picture in the paper of the new mayors and it looks like I’ve seen this picture before; the same old mayors playing musical chairs. “When is Madera going to get smart and the people be able to elect our own mayors? Then we can get some new blood in here instead of these old deadbeats.” (Editor’s note: An election next year will determine new councilman districts. The next election after that will include a city-wide race for a mayor, who will serve four years.)
“Thanks to the Madera County Library for many years of good, free reading,” said a lady. “The staff is great, and I’m hoping they can stay healthy. That’s right, there is no money in the budget for heating. And also no money for books. Imagine that, a library with no money to purchase books. I also noticed furloughs may be in the future. Perhaps if any member of the Board of Supervisors actually had a library card they might somehow find some funds.”
“Well, the good old boys did it again,” said a woman. “They went and found an out-of-towner to do the job (auditor-controller) that people in our town could do. Thank God the out-of-towner decided he didn’t want to be around here.”
“I’m a parent of a player for the Madera South JV Girls Soccer team,” said the mother. She said the team “was outstanding at the recent Clovis tournament. She did “recognize, after reading the paper for years, that only the varsity (teams) from each high school are recognized, but this team was put together at the last moment and they took first.”
She complimented “the (Junior Varsity) coach and assistant coach for an outstanding job. Now, the JV team will (still) have to hold a fundraiser because the varsity coach (West) had decided the varsity gets only what they want.”
+ + +
Thank you for your calls. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24 hours a day by calling 674-4478, or by visiting www.maderatribuneredline.com.
+ + +
Live Concert: “The Saltwater Room” by Owl City
The climate-change negotiators probably are freezing their bottoms off in Copenhagen when they are not inside, and creating lots of new carbon dioxide, not only in the fuel being burned to keep them warm, but in the hot air they are generating in their meetings.
Mrs. Doud and I spent some days in Copenhagen a few years ago, and we found the city to be beautiful — and very cold. We were there in February, as I recall, and I believe we spent at least an hour a day on our knees praying for warmer weather.
We found the Danes to be wonderful people — good looking, polite, hospitable and apparently impervious to cold.
If ever there was a place on earth that could use a warmer climate, it is Copenhagen. During the last glaciation, it was covered with a mile-thick sheet of ice. Now, that ice is gone, thanks to global warming. There’s still plenty of it in the mountains of Sweden and Norway, to the north, but Copenhagen is on flat country, built right down to the water.
If the climate conferees decide to strongarm the more prosperous countries into helping pay the less prosperous countries to lower their carbon dioxide output in the hope the world won’t warm up as fast as it has been doing the past century or so, the Danes will pay a heavy price.
As mentioned, they have to burn a lot of fuel to keep warm most of the year. Also, they raise a lot of livestock in Denmark — and the climate people think livestock-raising is one of the causes of global warming. You would think that global warming is all Denmark’s fault.
Of course, the Danes don’t want to have the sea rise much farther, because they would have to move parts of their city.
But they will have to do that if an ice age starts up again; either that or learn to live on a glacier. They just can’t win.
President Barack Obama is talking about throwing another $150 billion into the economic recovery, and I’ll tell you right now, he can send some to Mrs. Doud and me.
Of course, there will be some conditions.
First, we don’t want to have to pay any of the money we get back. If Obama insists that we spend, and not save it, we will follow his instructions to the letter. Or, at least I will. Mrs. Doud is more of a saver than I am, and she may balk at spending it all, but I can guarantee none of my share will be left when I get through with it. I just don’t want to have to worry about returning it.
Second, I don’t want to have to pay any more taxes because of this gift. Sure, I will pay sales taxes on the stuff I buy, unless I spend it on food, which isn’t taxed. But I don’t want to see any more income taxes. I want that money for free.
Third, if this $150 billion doesn’t get the economy going, I want another $150 billion. Penny wise is pound foolish, as we all know.
Fourth, I don’t want all this new spending to cause inflation. When inflation starts, interest rates go up, and pretty soon, it’s Katie bar the door as far as your credit cards and car loans are concerned. Keep inflation at bay.
Fifth, I would not like to have the money come in those new dollar coins. The mint has been trying to get everybody to use dollar coins that are just a little bit bigger than quarters for many years, and it just doesn’t work out. If they want us to use dollar coins, better they should make them like the old ones. Put a few of those in your pocket, and you knew you had some money.
Putting $150 billion of those big “cartwheel” dollars out into the economy might get things going again. Dollar bills are puny, but those big dollar coins add up. Obama can bring a truck full of those to our house anytime.
Providence, R.I., Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin does not speak for all faithful Catholics. In the nearly 40 years since Roe vs. Wade legalized a centuries-old procedure, the Religious Right, with the Catholic hierarchy in tow, has obstructed every ecumenical attempt to grant unfettered access to birth control as a means to its call for “Right to Life.”
In countries where women have a free and open right to use birth control, abortion rates are one-third those here in the U.S. This places many murdered fetuses squarely at the feet of Catholic Bishops like Thomas Tobin. This religious fervor isn’t so much about “creating a culture of life” as it is about dictating the morals of others.
Like all faithful Catholics, I believe that I am here “to know, love and serve God.” But I also believe all that stuff they taught us in civics class and from where I sit, Rep. Patrick Kennedy is a patriot. He is fulfilling his oath of office to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” — a Constitution that prohibits the establishment of religion, even if it’s my religion.
Mr. Kennedy has not, himself, performed an abortion, nor forced any woman he has known to have one, yet his bishop denies him full participation in his church. One wonders how many Catholic priests distributed the body and blood of Christ on Sunday while abusing “the least of our brethren” the rest of the week.
And this points to the very weakness of Bishop Tobin’s theology. Christ himself calls us to Holy Communion and it is by God’s grace that Jesus is called forward through the millennia to be truly present in the bread and wine through the miracle of transubstantiation.
What mortal then, priest, bishop or pope, is able to say which of us, prostitutes and tax collectors all, is worthy to receive our Lord?
Drunken-driving death rates have fallen over the past year, which is good news, news that is probably due to increased DUI enforcement.
That is true in Madera County, where local police and the California Highway Patrol have stepped up enforcement.
“If you drink, don’t drive” is the message law-enforcement agencies are sending with DUI checkpoints and tougher enforcement.
Some drunken drivers just don’t get it, though. These numbskulls will go to court, where the judge will lift their driver’s licenses. Then, the now license-less driver leaves the court, goes to his car, gets in and gets ready to drive home. Sometimes, he gets a surprise, with a tap on his windshield by a police officer who has been lying in wait to arrest him for driving without a license. Boom. The DUI driver is back in court and his vehicle is impounded.
Law officers hate having to respond to crashes caused by drunken drivers because they know those crashes probably were preventable. Yet, some drivers still want to tempt fate by drinking and then getting into vehicles and roaring off into traffic where they can do great harm to others and to themselves.
Most drunken drivers, when sober, are probably nice people who wouldn’t want to hurt anyone else. But when they get a few drinks under their belts, they decide to become criminals, sometimes even murderers. Yes, you are a murderer if you drive drunk and kill someone.
The way to avoid getting into trouble behind the wheel when you’ve been drinking is to ride with somebody who is sober, or to call a cab. Another way is to drink responsibly. The blood-alcohol limit in California is .08 — about one typical alcoholic drink an hour for most people.
Some people think they can drink more and not be impaired, but the law disagrees. That is why enforcement has been stepped up, and why more people are alive today.
I’m very disappointed that the Tribune picked up the series of global-warming “news” articles from The Associated Press.
Most upsetting is a photo of a house in the article which is partially underwater. This intimates that global warning caused this flooding, which is false.
This photo is on Page A9 of Friday’s paper. The articles state as facts many other unproven theories.
Global warming is far from a proven science, as the series of recent leaked e-mails proves. Leading global-warming advocates were caught lying and exaggerating about human-caused warming in order to maintain their massive government funding.
I realize that it is not always feasible to present both sides of a controversial topic, but perhaps such articles should be placed in the editorial section along with other opinion.
A friend who had been a civilian employee at the Naval Shipyard at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, still vividly remembered 60 years later the attack by the Japanese. He was working in the instrument shop that day, and had just come to work. He heard the din of the attack first, and wasn’t sure what was going on.
Inside his workshop, which was at the end of a pier, one couldn’t see the moorings where the first bombs were being dropped, he said.
“There were a bunch of big booms,” he said, “and I thought one of the big fuel tanks had exploded, or an ammo locker had gone off.”
But suddenly, something happened that let him know in a hurry that a battle was under way. A Japanese plane flew right by the window where he was standing.
“I could see the pilot. He looked at me. I thought, ‘My God, we’re in for it!’ The next thing I remember, I was under my workbench.”
He was among the lucky ones at Pearl on that day. For some reason, the Japanese didn’t attack the shipyard with bombs. Some smaller vessels tied up at the shipyard docks were machine-gunned. Most of the attack was aimed at the planes on the ground at the airfield and at the big warships.
“I couldn’t believe this could happen, but it did,” he said.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke to the nation the next day, in his memorable “day that shall live in infamy” speech, he made a promise: “I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people,” he said, “when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the utter- most, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.”
For years, that promise was kept. Pearl Harbor Day helps us remember it, even though some question whether it is being kept now.
Based on the publicized driving reports, I suspect Tiger Woods was becoming unconscious as he fled for his life from his enraged 29-year-old wife. Elin, the wife, was swinging a golf club, and said she only broke the car widows — she did a good job too. But, Tiger’s driving was always unexplained.
Now a “TV insider” says Elin allegedly admits she hit Tiger in the head with a golf club. This would explain Tiger’s known 2:30 a.m. behavior.
Elin allegedly was using a golf club as deadly weapon. Tiger, stunned and blacking out, staggered to his car, but was losing consciousness, so he hit a fire hydrant then veered to the left and hit a tree.
According to 911 tapes, he was found unconscious by a neighbor. Tiger was taken by ambulance to a hospital, but he always denied the obvious fingernail cuts and probably a cut or two from hits with a large diamond ring, which acts as brass knuckles in a battering. This relationship is dangerous and head-bashing goes far beyond an acceptable response to adultery.
Did Tiger have a CT scan in the hospital? When a person is hit in the head with an object like a golf club, the victim can remain dazed and confused for days, weeks or longer. The police dropped all charges because there was a denial of domestic violence by Tiger. But, Tiger’s injuries and subsequent unconsciousness meant he probably had no full memory of what exactly transpired. With the current alleged statements, the police should inquire.
Victims of domestic violence usually accept all blame and protect the batterer, as was seen initially with Rihanna. Tiger may have pain and injuries for years from this family battle.
I had to write this article because I am a strong advocate against domestic violence. In this case, I don’t want the domestic violence message to get lost in all of the celebrity chatter. Domestic violence is never justified, whether it is against a man or a woman (unless an exception like self-defense, etc.). The best option is to leave the house — or have Tiger leave — and discuss things when tempers cool down, or seek a mediator.
